Just stuff from some coonass who's got some highfalutin investment title.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

It's The Economy Stupid: Jobless, Tapering

Taper: a: a tapering form or figure; b: gradual diminution of thickness, diameter, or width in an elongated object; c: a gradual decrease

All the talking heads on Wall Street are talking about tapering. As in when will The Fed start to taper their easy money policy, when they will start to taper their monthly purchase of $85 Billion in securities. Taper. Taper, taper, taper. It’s all the rage on Wall Street.

Economic Event

Period

Economic Survey

Actual Reported

Original Prior

Revised Prior

Initial Jobless Claims

JUN 15

340K

354K

334K

336K

Continuing Claims

JUN 8

2958K

2951K

2973K

2991K

More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, showing progress on reducing joblessness remains uneven amid slower growth this quarter. Jobless claims climbed by 18,000 to 354,000 in the week ended June 15 from a revised 336,000 the prior period. The median forecast of 46 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 340,000. But let’s face the facts. This number is in line will all the recent data. It’s a trend line number. Not too good, but not too bad. The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figures, climbed to 348,250 last week from 345,750. No states were estimated and there was nothing unusual in the data. Employers will need to limit firings before the world’s largest economy can show bigger gains in payrolls. Federal Reserve officials announced yesterday that they would maintain the central bank’s $85 billion in monthly asset purchases until the expansion shows further signs of Strengthening. Economists’ claims estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 325,000 to 355,000. The prior week was initially reported at 334,000. Applications dropped to a five-year low of 327,000 in late April.